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Rob Van Vuuren in conjunction with Hotel Glencairn have been bringing top class comedy to the deep south for a little over a year now. As 2017 draws to an end it only seems fitting to end the year with a super-duper comedy extravaganza. Our line up includes 6 of South Africa’s Top comedians all under one roof for one night only.

We are delighted to have Kurt Schoonraad and Kagiso D Mokgadi back on our stage to watch them weave their comic genius for us once again. We are equally as excited to have with us for the first time Nik Rabinowitz, Lindy Johnson and Angel Campey.

It is all but confirmed that from February next year, Cape Town will be introducing a “water tax” or a water levy or a water surcharge. Call it whatever you will.

The purpose of the charge is to raise more capital for long-term drought solutions. But it’s also a bit of a Catch22. Since the City is generating less income from water – with everybody saving so much – they are collecting less revenue. Thus meaning less money to pay for solutions.

But just how much will you have to pay?

Let’s take a look.

Cape Town’s proposed water levy charges

Residential property value (in ZAR)

Water tax (ZAR)

400k

none

600k

35

800k

45

1m

50

2m

115

3m

170

4m

225

5m

280

6m

340

7m

420

10m

565

20m

1120

50m

2800

But really, if your property is valued at R4 million, we’re pretty sure you can afford the R200 a month to pay your surcharge. Weren’t you spending that on filling your pool before restrictions anyway?

The City of Cape Town is searching for an additional R1bn per year while the dams recover from the unprecedented drought conditions.

Cape Town’s water use has spiked over the last few weeks. With rainy season well and truly over and the tourist season set to begin, it’s crunch time to avoid day zero.

British tourists have voted Cape Town the best city in the world for the fifth consecutive year.

After a poll of 90,000 readers in the 2017 Telegraph Travel Awards, the South African city of Cape Town was victorious, beating Vancouver and Tokyo to the top prize. Remarkably, it’s the fifth consecutive year that Cape Town has been named number one – and with all eyes on South Africa in 2018, the centenary year of Nelson Mandela’s birth, few would bet against it repeating the trick in 12 months time.

Enver Duminy for Cape Town Tourism says the recognition will aid in creating more job opportunities for locals.

“These accolades pave the way for even more innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation within the tourism sector.”

“They also accurately reflect the variety of experiences Cape Town has to offer visitors, from unparalleled natural beauty, to delicious, intimate culinary adventures in our many restaurants.”

Sporty, stylish, stunning, sociable… if Cape Town was a person, it would be that Hollywood starlet we all secretly envy. A coming-together of cultures, cuisines and landscapes, there’s nowhere quite like Cape Town, a singularly beautiful city crowned by the magnificent Table Mountain National Park.

So, whether you’re after natural scenery, or interested in indulging in the diverse food scene Cape Town offers, you won’t be let down.

Apart from the weak rand, which is making travel to South Africa very appealing to foreigners, Cape Town is only very accessible in terms of accommodation.

Cape Town currently has the 21st biggest Airbnb market in the world, and guests can stay in high profile Cape Town suburbs for a fraction of typical area prices – whilst also immersing themselves within local culture.

A high percentage of locals are also using Airbnb for staycations within SA’s borders.

For hotel stays, SA hotel prices low in comparison to other African hubs. The average rate for a hotel room in Addis Ababa is about R3 212 per night, which is more than double what guests would pay in Cape Town – an average of R1 448 per night, according to a 2015 survey.

The rest of the upper end of the ranking has a familiar look. Vancouver has played second fiddle to Cape Town for the last five editions of the awards, while Venice, Sydney and New York are perennial members of the top 10.

What it is?
“No More Bare Feet” was established in 2016 by Mondeka Mabibini, as the second leg of the Uphawu Community
Development organisation, of which she is the founder.

What’s our Aim?

The aim of the No More Bare Feet campaign is to give children in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape, where she comes from, shoes to wear to school. Many children are from poor backgrounds and their parents cannot afford to buy school shoes for them. Here poverty is dire and children have to walk up to 10km or more kilometres a day in order to get to and from school.

STBB’s involvement
With the support of national law firm STBB I Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes, the campaign is now in its third year. All
shoes collected are distributed during the first two weeks of the school term to the schools. The vision is to motivate
or lift up the school children’s dignity and self-esteem.

How your donation helps
By donating a pair of shoes today, you:
• Make a difference to a child who walks to school barefoot over rough terrain, winter and summer;
• Instill self-esteem and confidence in the learners;
• Help build the learner’s dignity.

To those who are able to assist in this very worthy cause, either with a new pair of shoes or used shoes of any size, please drop off at any of our Chas Everitt Offices.

Locations: Tokai, Bergvliet, Claremont and Fish Hoek before the 8 December 2017

Makes a huge difference to these kids’ lives as also to their parents and any contribution will be appreciated.

Looking for gifts for Christmas? Shop until you drop and support a great cause at the TEARS Christmas Market on Saturday, 2 December! Join us for a fun-filled market at the Fish Hoek Moth Hall (Central Circle, Fish Hoek). We’ll have a range of stalls and vendors from food and drinks, cakes and sweets, dog toys, treats and accessories, various craft stalls and Christmas gifts, books and bric-n-brac, plants and other handy paraphernalia!

Awesome raffles to enter with great prizes to be won, and you could even meet some of our adoptable dogs and puppies! Hope to see you there!

The first large shoals of yellow tail for the summer were spotted in False Bay over the weekend. The City of Cape Town wants to remind beach goers that the presence of great white sharks increases in in-shore areas with the arrival of yellow tail and higher water temperatures.

In-shore shark activity usually increases over the summer months, especially with the current yellow tail sightings.

‘Shark sightings typically start in late August, and continue through to April, with most sightings being reported mid-summer. With the school holidays around the corner and warmer days ahead, I want to urge Capetonians and visitors to please take extra care when going into the ocean. Shark spotters and the Fish Hoek exclusion net are important safety measures, but the best precaution is to be alert and aware when in the water,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport and Urban Development, Councillor Brett Herron.

As we are approaching mid-summer, the City appeals to all beach goers to familiarise themselves with the following safety tips:

Use beaches where shark spotters are on duty

Take the time to speak to the shark spotters on the day you visit the beach

Use the shark spotters signs to familiarise yourself with the four-flag warning system and warning siren – the green flag indicates that spotting conditions are good; the red flag indicates that there is a high risk of in-shore shark activity; the black flag means spotting conditions are poor; and the white flag with the black shark indicates a shark has been spotted (a siren will sound and all should leave the water immediately)

Do not swim, surf or surf-ski when birds, dolphins or seals are feeding nearby

Do not swim, surf or surf-ski where trek-netting, fishing or spear-fishing is taking place

Do not swim in deep water beyond the breakers

Do not swim if you are bleeding

Do not swim near river mouths

Do not swim, surf or surf-ski at night

Do not swim, surf or surf-ski if there has been a whale stranding nearby

Obey beach officials, lifeguards and shark spotters if told to leave the water

Be aware that the rate of encounters with white sharks rises significantly when the water temperature is warmer (18ºC or higher) and during new moon, due to increased opportunities for feeding

If a shark has recently been sighted in an area where no shark spotters are present, consider using another beach for the day

First-time visitors to beach areas should ask the local law enforcement official, lifeguards or locals about the area

For those people kayaking or surf-skiing far out to the sea, please consider paddling in groups and staying close together (in a diamond formation)

Consider using a personal shark shield when you go surfing or kayaking

Pay attention to any shark signage on beaches

Surfers must be especially vigilant in the areas between Sunrise Beach and the Macassar Beach during the spring and summer months, as research has shown that shark presence in these waters is extremely common at this time of year.

The Shark Spotters information centre at Muizenberg Surfers Corner is open to the public from 08:00 until 18:00 seven days a week. The centre provides up-to-date information on sharks and marine ecology, basic first-aid, general public assistance and help with emergencies, and storage of valuables and lost property.

Shark spotters are present at the following beaches:

Beach

Summer (October-April)

Winter

Muizenberg Surfers Corner

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

St James/Kalk Bay

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

Fish Hoek

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:45

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

Caves, Kogel Bay

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00

Noordhoek (The Hoek)

Monday- Sunday
08:00 – 18:00
(September to May)

N/A

Cloverlly

Weekends, public holidays and school holidays
08:00 – 18:00

N/A

Glencairn

Weekends, public holidays and school holidays
08:00 – 18:00

N/A

Monwabisi

Weekends, public holidays and school holidays
08:00 – 18:00

N/A

The Fish Hoek exclusion net has proven to be an effective shark safety measure by creating a physical barrier preventing any sharks from entering the bathing area. The exclusion net is in operation during the summer season as follows:

October 2017

School holidays and weekends

November 2017 – March 2018

The net will operate on a daily basis, depending on the weather. Weekends, public holidays and school holidays will be prioritized

April 2018

School holidays, public holidays and weekends

The exclusion net will not be deployed if weather conditions – wind and swell – are deemed unsuitable. Conditions are assessed on a daily basis. If weather conditions deteriorate after the net has been deployed already, the net may be removed as a precautionary measure. The net is not deployed when there is a high presence of whales or other marine mammals in the area.

On days that the exclusion net is deployed, the operating hours will be from 09:00 to 17:00. The operating hours may be extended to allow for lifesaving training or events. The Shark spotters will inform beach goers as and when the net is deployed via Twitter, Facebook, and the Shark Spotter mobile application (app).

Residents and visitors are urged to download the Shark Spotters mobile app to access the latest shark safety information, including what flag is flying at each beach, the latest shark sightings, net deployments, and much more. The app is available free of charge for Apple and Android devices and can be downloaded by searching for ‘Shark Spotters’ on the app store.

‘We encourage the public to report sightings of white sharks to the Shark Spotters. White sharks are present in our waters all year round and beach goers should be aware that there is always a small possibility of encountering one of these animals. Please remain vigilant while enjoying the ocean,’ said Councillor Herron.

THE AMAZING RACE Fish Hoek is a race where teams embark on a track around the Fish Hoek Valley. At every destination, each team must complete a series of challenges, some mental and some physical, and only when the tasks is completed will they learn of their next location. The first team to arrive at the final destination will win THE AMAZING RACE.

The event is free and anybody is welcome to join. Please confirm if you will be joining us to ensure that we are prepared for you.

The idea behind the event is to network and have fun. On the day you will be split into teams, but if you want to have your own team or have a friend join you in your team, we have no problem with it.

Today I visited the Wemmershoek Dam to view the progress made on removing alien vegetation in the catchment area. Alien vegetation around the dam and in the catchment areas uses a huge amount of water and clearing this vegetation will assist the city to conserve water that would have otherwise been used by these trees.

Over the last year, a City of Cape Town-appointed contractor has cut down over 50 hectares of pine trees from a city plantation used for commercial and industrial purposes. The remaining 110 hectares will be cleared over the next year. Removing these remaining plantations will improve stream flow into the dam and could secure an extra week or month worth of water supply for the city.

At Wemmershoek, the saving will be approximately 1 million litres per day when all pine trees are removed.

A process is now under way to ensure that we harvest the remaining plantation in a shorter period in order to minimize the potential loss of water. We will also be in contact with neighbouring land owners to ensure that the catchment area outside our boundary stays free of alien vegetation to secure a sustainable run-off into the Wemmershoek Dam.

This project forms part of our water resilience programme aimed at building up the city’s dam storage amid a persistent drought crisis.

This week dam storage levels declined by 1% to 36,8% and only 26,8% of that water is useable.

Collective water usage by the residents of Cape Town currently stands at 582 million litres per day. This is 82 million litres above the target usage of 500 million litres per day that we require to see the city through the drought.

We appreciate the water-saving efforts of Capetonians and I would like to thank Team Cape Town for their assistance. There are still many more residents and businesses that have to come on board to enhance our water-saving efforts. We can only make it through this drought with the help of each and every resident doing their part while the City works as fast as possible to bring additional supply online.

The City has implemented a successful vegetation control programme for more than 10 years and there are resources to continue the programme in the future.

As the City works on expediting all additional supply schemes, it is vital that water-saving by residents and businesses continues so that we can boost our joint efforts to beat the drought. Only by working together, will we ensure that we do not run out of water.